Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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A renewal of the Highway 11 rivalry was taken over by the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday night in a dominant, series-opening victory against the Saskatoon Blades.
The Raiders dominated possession and shots in Game 1 of Eastern Conference semi-finals at a packed Art Hauser Centre of 3,300 fans, scoring six consecutive goals in a convincing 6-1 win.
Raiders goaltender Michal Orsulak wasn’t tested much by the Blades, however he stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced to earn his fifth win of Western Hockey League playoffs.
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For the Blades, they struggled mightily to get going offensively all night being outshot by a 42-17 margin.
Prince Albert needed only 3:41 to open the scoring in the second round as veteran Aiden Oiring bounced the puck behind his back along the end boards, before sniping short side on Saskatoon’s Evan Gardner for the opening goal.
Not even two minutes later, the Raiders made it a 2-0 game as Jonah Sivertson found 2026 NHL Draft top prospect Daxon Rudolph cut into the slot and put the wrist shot past Gardner for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Trailing 9-0 in shots to begin the game, Blades head coach Dan DaSilva was forced to use his timeout just after in an attempt to settle his team down.
Raiders forward Alisher Sarkenov extended the home side’s lead before the end of the first period, receiving a pass off the rush from Braeden Cootes to net the 3-0 goal with 4:02 left in the opening frame.
It was more of the same dominance in the second period for the Raiders, as opening round overtime hero Brandon Gorzynski joined in on the goal scoring with 7:59 to go before the intermission.
Gorzynski, who sent Prince Albert through to the second round with his Game 5 winner against the Red Deer Rebels, picked his spot on Gardner off the rush with a snipe from the right face-off circle for the Raiders’ 4-0 goal.
Gardner did not return to the crease to start the third period after allowing four goals on 31 shots, pulled in favour of rookie Ryley Budd who made his WHL playoff debut in the Saskatoon net.
A 5-on-3 power play early in the third period paid dividends for Prince Albert in extending their lead, first with Oiring one-timing a pass by Rudolph for his second goal of the night and a 5-0 advantage.
Just over a minute after Oiring’s marker, the Raiders added their sixth and final goal of the night from Brayden Dube on the power play.
Saskatoon broke Orsulak’s shutout bid with 9:08 remaining in the game with a deflection by Zach Olson on the power play, marking the Blades’ first goal in nearly nine periods against the Raiders dating back to the final weekend of the regular season suffering two 4-0 losses.
It’s Prince Albert’s first playoff victory against Saskatoon since March 28, 2024 when they upset the top-seeded Blades 4-3 in Game 1 of their first round series, which they’d go on to lose in five games.
Prince Albert has taken a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, with the winner advancing to battle either the Medicine Hat Tigers or Calgary Hitmen for the Eastern Conference championship.
The Raiders and Blades will meet again on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre for Game 2 of Eastern Conference semi-finals.
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